


The Injury

by AtLeastSevenRaccoons



Series: The Injury [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Amputation, Cock & Ball Torture, Desperation, Injury, M/M, Multi, Mutilation, Orgasm Denial, Pain, Permanent Injury, Smut, brief dub-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 21:00:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4681301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtLeastSevenRaccoons/pseuds/AtLeastSevenRaccoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael gets hurt while filming Immersion and his knot has to be removed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Injury

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing smut, so constructive criticism would be welcomed (so long as you're gentle ;D)

They were an odd group, one that you wouldn’t expect to work together well.

Betas Jack and Geoff had been together in an unremarkable but loving partnership for years. Then all at once it seemed, it went from being just the two of them to _six_. Fellow beta Gavin, who Geoff knew was going to be a permanent part of his family since the moment they met; hothead alpha Michael, who let himself follow Geoff regardless; alpha Ryan, who managed to act like the protective father-figure alpha of fairy tales while never once being bothered by Geoff's authority; and omega Ray, who probably didn't actually need as much care as they gave him, but hey instincts are instincts.

Somehow they worked, even though they shouldn't have. They all followed Geoff's lead, despite their being alphas present, and all of them proudly bore Michael and Ryan's scent, with Ray going so far as to be mated to both of them (the least weird part of their relationship). Obviously there were fights, even if they were all betas who were just friends there would be fights, but mostly they got along great, and Michael and Ryan were equal enough that there was never an issue of one of them dominating the other.

And then the Immersion shoot happened.

Burnie was practically glowing over the Trials course he had constructed and the tiny bikes he was making Gavin and Michael ride.

“What about my geny's?” Gavin squawked when he saw the bikes.

Burnie and Michael just rolled their eyes, “You'll be fine,” Burnie reassured.

And Gavin was, because despite the fact that Gavin was a fucking moron, he was still pretty good about keeping a cool head.

Michael... well obviously Michael was going to show off. How could he resist, after all?

For the first few moments after Michael took the turn too fast and crashed epically he thought it wasn't that bad. Yeah, he'd sacked himself, and that wasn't fun, but it wasn't like he was _hurt_. It wasn't until the medics came over and tried to get Michael to sit up that he realized perhaps he was a bit totally wrong about that assessment. Pain fucking flared through his crotch and abdomen, and Michael passed out.

~*~*~

The next thing Michael knew he was floating to wakefulness in a hospital bed.

Before Michael could fully work out where he was Geoff was on him, making hushing noises and smoothing his hair.

Michael frowned up at Geoff as the man's face swam into view.

“Wha...?” he asked. Or at least he thought he did. It was kind of hard to tell.

Michael didn't know what was going on, but he'd been in the hospital just often enough to know that it involved the _good_ painkillers. If it wasn't for the effects of said painkillers Michael probably would have been more worried about why he was on them. But oh well, Geoff would take care of him, and if he was down for awhile Ryan could always pick up the slack with the whole 'alpha' duties. Fuck what everyone else said, being joint alpha was awesome. Jealousy could suck a dick

Geoff continued to hold Michael's hand in one of his and stroke Michael’s hair with the other, “You're in the hospital,” Geoff murmured softly, “You were a dumb fuck during Immersion and crashed your tiny ass bike.”

Michael remembered that part. Blaine had said he'd filmed it, so that was okay. Didn't explain why Michael was in the hospital though.

Michael was vaguely aware that the fact that Geoff seemed to be stalling should also make him worried, but again, _good_ drugs.

Geoff sighed, “You were hurt. Uhh, abdominal injuries. You had some internal bleeding, but the doctors fixed that right up for you.”

Oh so that was okay then, didn't explain why Geoff was still looking worried.

Geoff swallowed and looked down, “There was, uhh, other damage. Dick damage.”

Michael waited a second, fairly sure that he was supposed to laugh at that, or at least Geoff should be chuckling. That's what they did when dick jokes happened. Michael was just to out of it to figure it out. But Geoff just continued to look down and sad, and Michael couldn't understand why. Dick jokes didn't make you sad.

“I'm sorry Michael,” Geoff said, “You're dicks still there, but the doctors had to... they removed your knot.”

Michael just continued to blink up at Geoff. Was that the punch line? Shouldn't Geoff be laughing if that was the case? And really, Geoff should know he was on too many painkillers to be able to get a joke right now.

Geoff grimaced, “Do you understand what I'm telling you at all?” he asked.

Michael _didn't_ understand the joke Geoff was trying to tell, but fuck if he was going to admit it. Just because Geoff was the leader of their nest didn't mean Michael wasn't still an alpha, and alpha's didn't admit to not understanding dick jokes goddammit.

Geoff looked like he was about to cry. “I haven't told the others yet, I figured I'd let you make the call on how to break the news to them, if you want. But, no one's going to like... You're still an alpha, and you're still our partner, so just, like, remember that. Okay?”

Michael blinked at Geoff, the gears in his head finally starting to turn. Geoff played pranks, but not like this. When Geoff played a prank he always looked like he was a half second from cracking up, but right now Geoff just looked sad. Even if Michael's brain was too full of druggie cotton-balls to properly read an expression all his alpha instincts wanted him to know that his partner was distressed, and they wouldn't be doing that if Geoff was just joking to lighten the mood. Which meant that Geoff wasn't joking. Which meant that...

Oh.

~*~*~

Michael was released from the hospital after two days, and up and moving after an additional couple days of bed rest. He mostly spent the time sleeping through painkillers and playing video games, while trying to pretend that it wasn't painfully obvious that he was avoiding everyone else by holing up in one of the guest rooms claiming to want some quiet.

But high blood flow area, mixed with 21st century surgical techniques, and alpha healing factor, meant that he was basically good to go a little more than a week after the accident.

Burnie had been calling to apologize incessantly, and Geoff had been practically tiptoeing around him, so it wasn't like being healed meant he had to go back to work yet, which was fucking good, because he was pretty sure that he wasn't going to be able to actually deliver on any content.

The doctors had told him that his hormone levels and sex drive and shit would be just where they always were, and he'd still get hard, which was good to know. But than they'd fucking clinically gone over shit like 'interrupted ejaculation' cause he wasn't going to have a goddamn knot to keep things going, and some shit about his missing scent gland.

Mostly they'd been pretty damn unclear about how things were actually supposed to fucking _work_.

But Geoff had been fucking beside himself reassuring Michael that everything would be fine. So had Ryan, for that matter, but Michael was not going to be fucking mothered by another alpha, fuck you very much, and Ryan had quickly gotten the message that the best thing for him to be doing was filling in for Michael with everyone else.

And on the subject of filling in alpha wise, Ray's fucking heat should be starting in the next few days, Michael could smell it.

The doctors had given him some drugs to squash down his sex drive or sperm production or something while his dick healed up, since otherwise with being surrounded by three betas and an omega that all bore his scent his dick wouldn't have put up with him coming less than twice a day.

And was that going to keep up? Michael didn't know if that really had anything to do with his knot, but he guessed that might be okay if it did? It was annoying to have to come that often (not to mention messy, when it was just him and his hand to deal with it).

But anyways, those drugs were done with now, and with Ray's pre-heat smell the last lingering effects should wear off pretty fast, leaving Michael with still no idea how he was supposed to have sex.

Was he supposed to do it like a beta? He knew that Gavin, Jack, and Geoff had sex with each other, but he'd never really paid attention to it. And it must be fine? After all he was the first alpha Jack had ever been with and Jack had never seemed like he'd been terribly denied or anything? But then again betas have beta balls to go with their beta dicks. They only came, like, a spoonful, compared to Michael's two or three cups, so who the fuck knows.

Michael sighed at his TV. He should probably go down to have dinner with everyone. He didn’t really want to because he didn’t want to talk about _it_ , preferably ever, but he should at least go hang out with everyone else.

Geoff looked so fucking relieved when Michael got up to follow him down to eat instead of brushing him off like he had every other time that Michael couldn't help feel a little guilty about how much worry he was causing Geoff.

Everyone else looked just as relieved as Geoff to see Michael downstairs. Michael's alpha instincts gave a content purr at seeing his whole nest for the first time in over a week. Geoff and Ryan had kept bothering him, and Ray had joined him for silent video game session a couple times, but he'd hardly seen Jack or Gavin. (Michael strongly suspected Gavin had been kept away because no one trusted him not to say something insulting, and Jack hadn’t wanted to make Michael deal with _two_ mother hen's). He definitely hadn't seen everyone together.

The petty little part of him that still didn't trust Ryan completely was looking for signs that the group had gone neglected, and the rest of him let go of a tension he didn't know he was holding when he didn't find any. As much as his big shot alpha instincts took this as a challenge to his status, Michael was just _relieved_ at the proof that he didn't need to keep it together for everything to be okay with his nest.

Dinner wasn't exactly not awkward, but it also wasn't bad. If they were good at anything, it was not talking about an issue.

Michael felt some of the worry that he'd been trying to ignore for the past week leave him. He wasn't sure how things were going to work, but being around his mates and not being treated any different than if he just had a bad back or something soothed the part of him that was worried that somehow he wasn't an alpha anymore.

Or at least that's how he felt during dinner. After dinner the plates were cleared and they all continued talking, catching Michael up on office gossip for the most part, and going over the missed week of releases. A niggling feeling that something was wrong started to itch at him, and Michael couldn't pinpoint the source right away. He frowned and looked around at everyone. They looked mostly relaxed and he couldn't see anything wrong, save for the obvious tension they were still holding. Michael sniffed, and there it was.

He hadn't noticed with the food there, but now that it was gone it was painfully obvious. His mates only smelt like Ryan.

Ryan scent had always been on the other four, but usually it was to the same degree as Michael's. But after a week of Michael not scenting them at all and Ryan scenting them every day Michael's claim on them was practically undetectable. And there was nothing Michael could do about it. The scent glands were located in the knot.

Suddenly it hit him just what he'd lost. He'd been trying so hard to convince himself that it wouldn't really matter, but it fucking did. His fucking mates didn't fucking smell like him and they never fucking would again.

Michael felt tears spring to his eyes and barely fucking cared. What did it matter? He shoved his chair back and hurried back to the spare room he'd temporarily claimed as his own.

A few seconds later there was a knock at the door. “Fuck off, Geoff,” Michael yelled, not even sounding intimidating to his own ears, what with the crying and everything.

Geoff opened the door and came over to sit on the side of the bed next to Michael and laid a hand on his shoulder. When Michael didn't make any move to pull away Geoff gently brought Michael to his chest and held him as Michael really mourned his loss for the first time.

~*~*~

Michael had never actually told Geoff what his issue had been, but he figured he didn't really have too. There was no way Ryan didn't know what was happening with the scents, and he would have brought the issue to Geoff's attention even if Geoff couldn’t smell it himself.

Michael was pretty sure that you were supposed to feel better after a crying session and sleep, but in the morning he was still painfully aware of how little of himself he could smell on Geoff, and the fact that it wouldn't be long before he couldn't smell anything at all.

Most of them were still giving Michael a wide berth, but if that meant he got more time before he had to actually talk to anyone, then Michael was pretty pleased with that.

Michael still wasn't going in to work, and Ray had opted to stay home as well because of how close his heat was.

Ray mostly just hung out in his own room getting editing done, and Michael figured he should follow his lead on the whole 'productivity' thing and get some Rage Quit footage. Michael figured he’d make a dishonest attempt at being more ‘social’ and set himself up in the living room despite (because of) the fact that no one was there.

Ray wandered downstairs a little after noon looking for lunch, “Want to split a pizza?” he asked.

“Sure.”

Ray threw a meat lover’s in the oven and wandered over to stand next to Michael and watch him play while it cooked.

Michael was too focused on an asshole section of the game to give him much noticed. He was gripping the controller so tight he was in danger of breaking it as he tried to get the fucking square to go where it was supposed to for the fucking seventh thousand time.

“Did you see that!” Michael whooped as he finally hit a checkpoint and turned to face Ray and found that Ray was standing so close Michael almost knocked his head in his crotch.

Michael was hit with Ray's fucking amazing scent. He couldn't detect anything of Ryan or himself over the pheromones Ray was putting out. It was a damn good thing Ray had stayed home or else Ryan would have been fending people off with a stick.

Michael's dick practically _leapt_ to attention. _Guess the pills wore off_ , Michael thought vaguely at the back of his mind. The front of his mind was mostly worried about the fact that _holy fuck ow!_

The place where Michael’s knot had been was suddenly pulled and it felt tender like a wound even though it was almost healed. Michael could feel every heartbeat pounding through it.

Michael winced and curled up on himself a little.

Ray gave him a questioning look before his eyes moved downwards to Michael's erection.

“It's, uhh, sore,” Michael muttered stupidly.

Ray nodded, “Yeah. Geoff, uhh, said you were out of commission for a few days to heal. I guess that's over then?”

Michael nodded, uncurling a little as he got used to the pain. Just sitting there it wasn't too bad, but Michael _definitely_ wasn't looking forward to jerking off.

Ray looked a little awkward for a second, then cocked his hip and put on a kind of sleepy expression that Ray probably thought looked seductive, “Do you want me to help you out with that?” Ray asked, sinking to his knees.

Michael raised his eyebrows. Ray was usually pretty uninterested outside his heats, but if he was offering obviously Michael wasn't going to say no.

Ray opened Michael's pants and freed his cock. Michael was a little impressed that Ray managed to not show any reaction when he saw it. Not that it really looked all that different aside from a thin scar running the length of where there was no longer a knot.

Ray slid it easily into his mouth and Michael groaned. The heat and suction were definitely a lot better than his hand.

Michael leaned his head back and let himself enjoy. As Ray bobbed his head expertly, Michael felt the pressure building, the soreness all but forgotten as Ray worked.

Michael cried out as he started to come down Ray's throat. But the blood rushing to his dick didn't have anywhere to go anymore and he didn't have a knot to expand to push his orgasm out for real.

Michael grabbed desperately at the back of Ray's head as he felt his orgasm falter before it had really started. He needed to cum, it was right _there._ He just needed that last little _push_ to get over the edge. He was so fucking _close._

He slammed into Ray's throat as hard as he could, trying to build the pressure enough so he could fucking release, but it didn't matter, nothing was fucking happening even as he pounded more furiously, he just couldn't fucking get over. His balls were starting to protest the fact that he wasn't releasing their load, which only made Michael try harder. He was reduced to nothing but his aching balls and thrumming cock as he sat perched on the edge.

Suddenly a pain shot down his dick as Ray bit him.

Michael snapped back to himself and tore his hands off of Ray’s head. Ray scrambled backwards, gasping for air. His face was red and covered in tears.

Michael's balls didn't start hurting less but he sure as shit wasn't thinking about an orgasm anymore.

“Holy shit Ray, I'm so sorry,” Michael breathed, horrified at himself.

Ray moved backwards when Michael stood and tried to reach out for him, and he didn't fully turn his back on Michael as he fled back to his room.

Michael kicked over the chair in his anger. How the fuck could he do that to Ray? He was supposed to be fucking protecting his omega, not using him like a goddamn fleshlight.

He was pretty sure Ray wasn't going to be mad. Ray never stayed mad for long. But Ryan was going to be as goddamn furious as the situation called for.

Ray had at least opened the door when Michael brought him cold water and soup later, so Michael figured he'd at least managed to not traumatize him.

But even with the fact that he'd tried to suffocate Ray on his dick, his balls had not stopped aching from his orgasm that wasn't. They had swollen up in anticipation of his climax, and then nothing.

Michael hadn't felt that bad since he was a fucking teenager without the skill or the privacy to keep himself knotted with his hand for the full show.

Ryan found Michael back in the spare room when he came looking for him after work. Michael didn't bother defending himself as Ryan ripped into him about not being an asshole.

After about ten minutes Ryan finally let out a huff of air, seeming to have yelled all he needed to, “Ray still wants you there for his heat.”

That certainly got Michael's attention, “Why?” Michael asked, “I can't fucking knot him, and apparently I can't even remember he's there at all.”

“Yeah, well, you're still his mate, and he still wants you there. Just make sure you control yourself,” and with one last glare Ryan stalked back out of the room.

Before the clock even struck eight Michael decided to say ‘fuck it’ and go to sleep early. His balls had only just started to feel better, which kind of made Michael feel worse since he was sure Ray's _throat_ was just starting to really hurt.

So whatever, pity party for Michael. He was going to bed.

At least that's what he'd planned. Less than ten minutes after he lay down there was another knock at the door.

“What?” Michael barked, not sounding particularly friendly.

He was expecting Geoff, or maybe Ryan or Ray, but instead Gavin came in, shutting the door behind him.

“Ray told me what happened.”

Michael didn't bother responding, just raised his eyebrows. The usual unspoken rule was that Ryan, Geoff and himself meddled, Jack, Gavin and Ray stayed out of business that didn't involve them.

Gavin bounced on his feet a little, “I just, I mean that wasn't on, what you did with Ray. But like, if you want to be, you know, rough. Just. Like. I can take it, yeah? Like, without being hurt?”

Michael blinked at him, “Are you offering to let me fuck you up.”

“No,” Gavin squawked indignantly, “You aren't going to fuck me up.”

Michael nodded without agreeing, “Yeah, okay.”

Gavin looked at the ground, “It's just. I want you to have what you need. You're my boi Michael.”

A flood of affection entered Michael's stomach. “Thanks man, I'll keep that in mind.”

Gavin nodded and left Michael to sleep.

Michael didn't feel better per se, but that little bit of comfort from his boi kept him warmed as he fell asleep.

~*~*~

He woke up with a raging erection and the smell of omega in heat in his nose.

He figured that Ryan was probably taking care of that second one, which left Michael to figure out what to do about the first.

His dick was just as sore as it had been when he'd gotten a stiffie yesterday, which meant that masturbating was going to _suck_. But he wasn't about to go track Gavin down to take him up on yesterday's offer, so jerking it was probably the only option.

Michael pulled himself out of bed and towards the second bathroom, or more specifically, it's shower.

Unfortunately for him Jack was already in there when Michael stumbled in still half blind from the light.

Michael blinked confusedly at Jack. Usually the betas all did their best to avoid being any nearer to Ray than they had to during his heats. Some stupid evolutionary quirk meant that betas basically got _morning sickness_ if they breathed in too much omega heat stench.

“Geoff and Gavin are doing top secret stuff on the main bedroom’s computer,” Jack offered as explanation before going back to brushing his teeth.

“How fucking considerate of them,” Michael muttered.

Usually he wouldn't have any damn problem getting in the shower and giving himself a tug with Jack there, but with everything he was finding himself a tad body conscious.

Jack glanced down at Michael's crotch in the mirror. He was tenting his boxers pretty damn noticeably, so Jack definitely knew what he'd come into the bathroom for, but still.

Jack blushed a bit, “I'll go finish up in the downstairs bathroom then,” he offered.

Michael nodded, annoyed at the fact that everything had gotten so awkward, but glad that  
Jack was willing to try and minimize it, at least.

Michael stepped into the shower and turned the water on, flinching at the initial coldness. He barely waited for the water to adjust before he grabbed his dick and started to pump.

It was just as painful as expected. Michael had grabbed the shaft above where his knot used to be, which meant every tug was disturbing the wounded area. He tried to pump as hard as he could, wanting it to be over as fast as possible. Eventually, like with Ray, the shock of pain with every pump faded into the background as his orgasm built up.

Michael grunted as he felt it start and used his free hand to cinch around the base of his cock while giving a few last tugs with the other, before getting a vice grip on the other side of his missing knot to simulate knotting.

Michael jerked out a shot, and felt his balls inflate in anticipation, but the actual orgasm was still eluding him.

Frustrated Michael gripped even harder at the base and tried tugging a couple more times, but the orgasmic feeling was getting further away, not closer. Michael cried and started pumping his cock hard enough to hurt, but he couldn't stop the orgasm from leaving.

The feeling had faded almost completely before a new orgasm started building from Michael's ministrations. Like the last it started to build and Michael shot a load signalling its start, but then the feeling just wouldn’t peak, no matter what he did there just wasn't any _release_.

Michael sobbed in frustration and gave up, but didn't take his hands off his dick. The sexual frustration was thrumming through his veins, but couldn't fucking _go_ anywhere, and his balls were full and aching, but there was nothing he could do about either of those.

Michael wasn't sure how long he stood there, just sort of feeling the frustration, but when he finally looked up Gavin was standing just outside the shower, looking half amused, half worried.

“What?” Michael snapped, still not letting go of his cock. At this point he definitely wasn't going to be getting anything out of it, but it still made him feel better.

Gavin shrugged, “I told you, if you're having trouble...” Gavin trailed off, getting the memo that Michael wasn't going to do anything but glare. Gavin nodded to himself, making up his mind on his own, “Come meet me in your room when you’re done. I'm already prepped.”

Michael stared in disbelief as Gavin flounced out of the room.

But fuck it, he might as well take Gavin up on the offer. His balls were thrumming, and there was an ache in his lower abdomen, so he might as well.

Michael looked down where he was still gripping his dick and willed his hands free. Removing his hands didn't change the sensation, but it was still hard to let go, it felt like giving up, which was fucking ridiculous, because he was going to go fuck Gavin.

Michael decided to forgo clothes as he went to join Gavin in his room. His balls and still hard dick both twinged with every step as they bobbed lightly, but, whatever.

Any loss of arousal he might have experienced in the bathroom was immediately undone upon walking into the hall and getting another noseful of Ray. That was his omega feeling so needy, and he should be doing something about it goddammit.

Michael tried to sooth his alpha instincts with the fact that Ryan was in there making Ray more comfortable, but instead of the comforting thought that normally was, it just twisted his stomach with jealousy.

_Whatever_. Michael could deal with that later.

He pushed open the door to the room that was normally designated 'his.' He had no fucking idea who had been sleeping in it while he was hiding in the spare room. They had three bedrooms normally in use: one each for the alphas, which everyone else would end up sleeping in at random, including Ryan and Michael, plus a third for Ray, which was partially because sometimes you needed to keep an omega away from betas, but mostly because Ray was a fucking hermit.

Michael found Gavin naked on his bed, ass in the air.

Michael stared at his hole, “Have you already been fucked.”

Gavin grinned from behind his shoulder, “Yep. Geoff.”

“Jack made it sound like you were doing a Minecraft build.”

Gavin's grin widened, “That is what we told Jack, yeah.”

Michael rolled his eyes and walked over to get on the bed with Gavin, but Gavin shook his head. “No, no. If you want it rough than you should stand.”

Michael didn't blush, but he was definitely starting to feel embarrassed about all this. “You sure about this?” he asked as he reached over to drag Gavin into a better position at the edge of the bed.

“Yeah. You're not going to hurt me, Michael,” Gavin reassured again. And Michael supposed that was true, Gavin had always been... enthusiastic about getting fucked. He was the only one in the house who'd been dp'ed more than once, and he was regularly on the receiving end of a train, so if anyone would be fine with Michael losing control, it would be Gavin.

Michael gripped Gavin's hip in one hand and used the other to line up his dick, before pushing in.

Michael grunted in pain as his missing knot was enveloped in Gavin's ass. After the session in the bathroom the area was definitely feeling sore, to the point where it was all Michael could feel.

He stood there for several seconds, panting and trying to wait for the pain to fade to something less blinding.

Michael felt something touch the hand that was on Gavin’s hip, and looked to see that Gavin had reached over to twine their fingers together. Michael glanced up at Gavin's face, and the younger man gave him a nod of encouragement.

Michael nodded back, took a deep breath and started thrusting lightly. Once he got started it didn’t take long for the pleasure from the friction to overrule the pain in his dick, and he started to get into it and they needing to let go of each others hand so they could brace better. Michael pounded into Gavin, not really trying to make it good for the other man. If he'd just had a round with Geoff than his dick probably wasn't up to too much prostate stimulation anyways.

It took Michael longer than usual to start getting there, even with how fucking aching his balls were, but eventually Michael felt his orgasm start to build. Michael had to resist the urge to slow down so that he wouldn't get the same disappointment that he'd felt in the shower and with Ray.

Eventually Michael felt himself hit the tipping point and release into Gavin, but just like before he couldn't go any further. Michael grunted in anger and started pounding Gavin's ass even harder, desperate to get over that edge and let his balls release.

But all that was doing was keeping him perched at the edge. Michael sobbed at the frustration and the desperate need building in his balls as he kept furiously pounding. He didn't know how long he kept up at it, but eventually his energy just started to fade, and the orgasm started to get a little farther, even with his balls fucking screaming.

Michael was full on sobbing in frustration at that point, too tired to do more than give some sloppy thrusts, but too desperate to stop.

“Michael,” Gavin whispered, reaching back to take his hand again, “Michael stop. It's time to stop now.”

Michael gave one last impotent thrust and let himself collapse on Gavin's back, sobbing.

~*~*~

The first thing Michael was aware of when he woke up was that his balls ached. The second was that Geoff was stroking his hair and trying to convince him to sit up.

Michael dutifully pushed himself to a sitting position, careful of his nuts but getting a flare of pain anyways.

Geoff smiled at him and handed him a glass of water. Michael took it and sipped.

“There, good,” Geoff praised, then his expression turned darker, “Look, I think we need to go back to your doctor. Maybe they can recommend a sexologist or something, for a different technique or whatever.”

Michael blushed a little and looked down at the blanket Gavin must have swaddled him in.

“Yeah, okay,” Michael muttered.

Geoff nodded, “Good, the appointment I booked you is this afternoon.” Michael glared up at Geoff, but he ignored him, “I'll take you. Fuck all was going to get recorded today anyways with so many people out.”

Michael nodded, not feeling at all guilty. Biology induced days off were nothing unusual for anyone close to an omega. Even without heats those shits could be temperamental.

Geoff left, probably to go do some editing in the living room, safe from any trace of Ray.

Michael climbed out of bed a few minutes later, trying to ignore the ache in his abdomen and the pain in his balls as best he could. He rushed through having an actual shower and getting dressed as much as he could while still trying to keep the pain to a minimum before going downstairs.

He kind of wanted to hide in the spare bedroom some more, but seeing as it was right next to Ray's room that wasn't an option.

Downstairs he could still smell Ray, but thankfully not enough to actually get his dick interested. Michael felt a twinge of guilt. Common operating procedure for Ray's heats was for Ryan and himself to take shifts, and here Michael was just hanging out playing video games, leaving one mate desperate, and another to exhaust himself.

_Is he really your mate?_ A little voice in the back of Michael's head asked. _After all, you won't be on him at all by the end of the week. How many heats do you think it will take before he stops seeing you as a mate all together?_

Michael flinched at that thought, the one he'd been trying to avoid. Although the thought of not having his scent on his betas was distressing, the thought of losing Ray was devastating.

Not that he'd lose Ray. Ray wasn't an asshole, he'd stick around through anything, but... Omegas only felt attraction to their alphas. That was it. Full stop. That was why alpha/omega courting took so damn long, so the omega could size up who they _wanted_ to be desperately attracted too, rather than pick out who they already were.

So as soon as it was too long since Michael had done anything with Ray, Ray’s body wouldn't recognize him as a mate anymore. He wouldn't want Michael anymore. And no matter how he tried to tell himself that Ray wasn't into any of the betas but still had a good relationship with them, it didn't matter, it wouldn’t be the same.

Fuck, that would be it for his good relationship with Ryan. As much as he wanted to believe they were, and as much as Ryan had reassured him, they weren't equals anymore. Ryan's was the scent that clung to all the betas, and Ryan was the one that was mated to his omega. Michael had nothing to challenge Ryan with. For all intensive purposes Michael was just another fucking beta under Ryan's thumb.

Except he wasn’t even that, because Michael would never have Ryan's scent on him like the others did that marked them as all the same nest.

Michael shoved those thoughts down as hard as he possibly could and tried to concentrate on playing his game, but they just kept bubbling back up again. Fuck Michael needed a drink, but he was pretty sure Geoff wouldn't be impressed with him if he tried to go to the doctor's drunk off his ass.

Eventually Michael did manage to kind of distract himself. He'd tried to edit, but that wasn't an absorbing enough activity. Neither were most of his games, unfortunately. Eventually he ended up on Ninja Gaiden, hoping the frustration would distract him.

It mostly worked, at least until Ryan came stumbling downstairs looking for food for himself and Ray.

Ryan absolutely _reeked_ of sex and needy omega, despite the fact that he'd obviously tried to shower and had put on fresh clothes.

Michael's guilt re-established itself full force at the thought that while Ryan was down here Ray was alone upstairs.

But Michael couldn't help Ray anymore. Not really.

Luckily Ryan's brain was at least not useless, and he'd texted Geoff to have something ready, so all told Ray had probably been left alone for less than 20 minutes. But it was 20 minutes more than he should have been.

After Ryan made his way back upstairs Geoff came over to Michael, because Geoff was a fucking mind reading asshole.

Geoff wrapped his arm around Michael, “You know most omega's only have one mate, right? He'll be just fine.”

Michael nodded, but didn't look at Geoff.

Geoff sighed, “I know things can't be the same, but we still love you. We figured out how to make this work in the first place, we'll figure it out again.”

Michael nodded again, only comforted so far by the embrace of a man who he could hardly smell himself on.

~*~*~

The doctor's appointment... didn't go well. It didn't go well to the point where the first thing Geoff did when they climbed back into his car was shove a bottle of booze into his hand and instruct him to drink.

Permanent. Permanent. The fucking non-orgasms were permanent. There was no way for a fucking alpha to cum without his knot.

Geoff had raged at the doctor for not telling them sooner, and demanded a solution, but there simply wasn't one. There was no way to trick his dick into thinking it still had a knot. Even the more totally desperate options wouldn't work. Libido blockers would fail after only a couple weeks, and any attempt to permanently lower his sex drive (castration), or let him live without the ache in his balls (castration) would kill him.

Michael was in shock. He’d been so worried that he'd be shunted out of the relationship, but he hadn't even known to be worried about the biggest problem.

Without a way to relieve the pressure, Michael would just get hornier. Right now, after only two days, the pressure in his balls would fade after awhile and his orgasm would wilt, but after a month? You always heard stories about people who fucked up an omega to keep them in constant heat, would that be what happened to Michael?

Alphas didn't get needy and senseless, but it was still damn hard to think clearly when he was too turned on, and that was going to be....

Michael took another pull of the booze.

~*~*~

Michael didn't have the energy to do anything but climb into bed when he got home, a course of action that Geoff only seemed to encourage.

When Jack and Gavin got home from work he could hear a conference between the betas and other alpha taking place in hushed tones. It wasn't like they'd be able to fix anything though. Michael was pretty damn sure that he'd be basically useless in a few weeks anyways. They'd all had to work hard to convince Ray that he wasn't a burden because of the few days every month that he was overcome, but they wouldn't be able to convince Michael he was an equal when it was constant.

Michael buried his head in the blankets and tried to stop crying, he'd done too damn much of it these last few days. But then again, he was also facing losing everything. Would he still be able to work? Would he still be able to play video games?

Would he still be loved?

Michael didn't fucking know, and for the first time he was _scared_. Not of the pain, he could fucking deal with pain, but of the idea of not having a _life_ anymore.

The door creaked opened, and Michael didn't need to look up to know who it was.

“You're still in heat, go back to your room,” Michael chastised.

Ray ignored him and came over to sit by Michael, “I heard the others talking. I guess the situation is more ass than we thought.”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed dully.

“But...” Ray trailed off, probably looking around awkwardly, “I know what it feels like. I mean, not the balls, obviously. But the being desperate and not being able to do anything about it. Everyone else is acting like your fucking dying, but you aren't.”

Michael finally looked over at Ray to give him a death glare, but Ray just raised his eyebrows at him, “How many heats did I go through alone before you and Ryan? Yeah, I know I always had, like, an _end,_ but this isn't the end of the world.”

Michael laughed/sobbed, “Not the end of the world? How the fuck am I supposed to still work if all I can fucking think about is my dick?”

Ray nodded, “Yeah, that'll be ass. But you really think I wasn't editing during my heats in New York? It's not easy, but you'll manage, Michael. I promise.”

Michael snorted, “I don't know what it's like for you, but I don't see that happening.”

Ray rolled his eyes in frustration, “So maybe it'll take you a little longer to do things. So what? If I can keep it together through a heat, you can keep it together through this.”

Michael sighed, not wanting to argue, but not letting himself hope either. The prospective Ray was offering was just to damn optimistic for Michael to believe in it right now.

Ray glanced over at the door, and listened for a second. The sounds of a heated but hushed discussion could still be heard.

Ray turned back to him, eyes lidded, “There was something else I came in here for. Sit up.”

Michael obediently sat up, giving Ray a questioning look.

Without looking away from him, Ray slid his hand into his underwear and pulled it out covered in his slick.

Michael frowned as Ray brought his hand over and smeared it over Michael's face.

“Ewww,” Michael flinched, “Ray, what the fuck?”

Ray smiled, “Hush, I'm scenting you.”

Michael raised his eyebrows at Ray as he continued to be gross. It was in his fucking hair.

Ray raised his eyebrows right back, “What? You think alphas are the only ones that can scent?” Ray chuckled, “If you aren't going to be joining me for my heats, I get it, but your crazy if you think I'm going to let you wander around unclaimed. We're a nest, we're going to smell like it.”

Michael blinked at Ray. He wasn't sure if the younger man was telling the truth about having his own scent mark on all of them or not. But okay. That worked. Maybe things would work.


End file.
